With Kerala education minister Abdu Raab not favouring boys and girls in his state not seated together on school benches, schools in the state may soon face a serious shortage of benches, discovers V GANGADHAR.
It is one crisis after another in Kerala whose students are known for their academic excellence. Education Minister P.K. Abdu Raab who is connected with the local college at Farooq is facing constant problems over the college over trivial issues which are making news in the local media Abdu Raab has to contend with a minor problem which created some tension in the Farooq College. Normally, Farooq is a peaceful college but then it is located in a town with a large Muslim population and is a co-ed institution. Hence, the problem.
Things were moving smoothly even in Farooq when disaster struck without suddenly. Boy and girls were asked by the authorities to vacate the classrooms and go home. Why this sudden change in a college where boys and girls tll now were sitting together without any problem, Minister Abdur Raab was aware of this. Raab talked freely to the media but his views only added to the confusion.
Generally, the minister was not in favour of boys and girls sharing the same bench in the classroom. But this was his
personal view which he did not share with anyone one in the class or college. The Minister added he was not aware of any college in the region where boys and girls shared class benches. No, he had not checked this fact with the University Gazette or talked with the Registrar
It is okay if boys and girls in the college sat side by side on separate chairs in the class. The college should measure the distance between chairs in the class room and inform the teacher, For maintaining decorum the girls should see to it their sarees flew around and made contact with the boys. The boys on their part should control their dhotis and saw to it they did not fly around and expose their legs too much. Pants and trousers were OK but the new fashion of pants below the waist line will not be allowed.
If student and management representatives had no objections to boys and girls sharing the same benches he had nothing to comment. But they must consider the ancient, culture and educational traditions of the state. The Minister refuted allegations that the Farooq college incident was one of gender discrimination. The Kerala High Court ordered the college to take back students against whom any kind of action was instituted and the matter was closed.
Abdu Raab explained that education should travel wide and far if boys and girls did not sit on the same bench. Why did Kerala topped list of literacy? Because successive governments in the state saw to it in maintaining the distance between the benches of boys and girls and they did not come too close together for comfort. Star athletes in Kerala like P T Usha, Shiny Abraham and others knew where their benches were placed and further could run faster than any boys in their classes. These were double advantages.
